Environment

Lawyers spent almost an hour in the Texas Supreme Court arguing whether Laredo’s 2015 ban on plastic grocery bags was illegal. The future of bag bans in cities across the state could hinge on the case. 

 

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Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria combined with devastating Western wildfires and other natural catastrophes to make 2017 the most expensive year on record for disasters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Monday.

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Last year saw the most destructive Atlantic hurricane season on record. How did we get here? We investigated by wading through the damage left by Hurricane Harvey in Houston.

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Relatives of inmates have reported that more than 30 Texas prisons lacked adequate heating during the state's recent cold snap. A Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman said Wednesday that all prison units were “operating with adequate heating.”

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The Lone Star State's shoreline is experiencing one of the highest rates of land loss of any coastal area in the country thanks to a combination of subsidence, sea level rise and storm surges.

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Two Tribune reporters who covered Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath discuss the historic storm's financial impact, recovery efforts and what citizens and state officials have learned in the wake of the devastating storm.

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Revisit our investigation of how thousands of "rogue releases" — when industrial polluters spew noxious chemicals into the air during malfunctions and other unplanned incidents, exceeding permit limits — occur in Texas each year.

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Months after Hurricane Harvey rainfall triggered the leak of hazardous waste, new scrutiny is being paid to a company's plan to develop a landfill outside Laredo near a floodplain.

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Two independent research teams have reported that the deluge from Hurricane Harvey was significantly heavier than it would have been before the era of human-caused global warming. 

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Clear Lake City officials say they hope the project will serve as an example of how communities can take matters into their own hands as they await the completion of large-scale flood control projects. 

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Kathleen Hartnett White, the former head of the Texas Council on Environmental Quality and President Trump’s pick to serve as his top White House environmental official, faced tough questioning at her confirmation hearing Wednesday.

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As the Central Texas city moved to reintroduce fluoride to its water supply, it encountered opposition from residents who say the practice is unnecessary and potentially risky.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday it had appointed Michael Honeycutt, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's chief toxicologist, as chairman of the federal agency's Science Advisory Board.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently unveiled a long-in-coming plan to muck out the infamous San Jacinto River Waste Pits — a strategy opposed by the companies responsible for the pollution.

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Voters are generally happy with the way local, state and federal officials have responded to Hurricane Harvey, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. 

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Some state lawmakers have described the monster storm as a missed opportunity to prepare for the next drought.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has moved to unwind several Obama-era regulations designed to slash air pollution, protect the quality of major waterways and spur cities to reduce ozone.

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Hurricane Harvey took the lives of at least 88 Texans, according to preliminary numbers released Friday morning by the Department of State Health Services.

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Watch some Houston homeowners recount the floods they experienced after Hurricane Harvey made landfall.

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Building in the reservoirs led to thousands of flooded homes, increased the risk for surrounding areas and threatened their earthen dams.

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